Maximum Ride: The Cure
by icefire6182
Summary: When a cure is offered to the flock they have to decide if they should take it or not. It seems like an easy “no” for Max at first but she learns her flock isn’t so sure. drama and adventure await the flock in a decision that could seperate them forever.
1. Chapter 1: Action again!

Full Summary: When a cure is offered to the flock they have to decide if they should take it or not. It seems like an easy "no" for Max at first but she learns her flock isn't so sure. It would be their only chance to get a normal life. Max and the flock are forced to make a terrible decision, one that could tear them apart. Meanwhile Itex soldiers are hunting them down. They are no longer safe, no matter where they go.

Maximum Ride: The Cure

1

My favorite place to camp is a forest. Not any particular forest but just one that has trees thick enough to hide us from helicopters and big enough for us to get lost in incase someone decided to come after us. Not that we've been hunted recently, in fact ever since Gozen, two months ago, we haven't had any fight. I was worried about that, I was also worried that when the time came we would be so used to not fighting that we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves.

So for the past two months my family and I have just been flying around the world, occasionally visiting my mom and sister. And Jeb. Things were still complicated with him; I couldn't trust him at all. It hurt me that I couldn't but I wouldn't set myself up for that kind of hurt in case he decided to join up with the White Coats again. I'm guessing I don't have to describe my family to anybody reading this, you should know if you're scanning through this now. If you don't know…too bad. Read my books.

There haven't been any big changes since then, Fang and I both turned fifteen and Nudge turned twelve. We think Gazzy may be nine now there's no way to know for sure. Iggy and Angel were still their usual ages, 14 and 6. Total could now totally fly without anyone holding him which was good because we were now the proud owners of a gigantic Alaskan malamute. We had to trade in shifts to decide who would carry her. Nudge and Gazzy both had to carry her at the same time and Angel couldn't help at all. Once we made the mistake of leaving her at my mom's house. Total complained for three days and I told him we would pick her up when we saw my mom again.

I also felt selfish that we always visited my mother while the rest of the flock (besides Iggy) had no idea where their parents were. Fang reassured me that no one had any problem with it besides me. Somehow I wasn't convinced.

So we were currently in a forest, we had been staying in one for a few days, when the first firefight in a long time happened. I was taking watch even though everyone tried convincing me it wasn't necessary (Old habits die hard.)Then I heard something in the woods. No big deal, just an animal no doubt, right? But when it's just an animal the hairs on the back of my neck don't stand up, I don't feel suddenly tense. I was right to worry. I fell to the floor, pretending to sleep, sending an urgent thought into Angel's mind, hoping she was awake and would send it to the rest of the flock. Luckily surprise was on our side.

Four men dressed in all black marched into the camp, scanning. I heard one guy whisper into his microphone attached to his commando helmet thingy. He crept slowly toward me and, through squinted eyes, I saw a smile stretch across his creepy face.

"This one Jeb's kid?" He whispered to another guy. I heard the other soldiers grunt in annoyance. They were meant to be silent.

Now here I was presented with two options:

Leap up and attack

Say: "You know, if you want to sneak up on us you really shouldn't talk," followed by a punch to the face.

I decided to combine. First I leapt up and decked him. Shocked, he fell to the floor. "You know, if you want to sneak up on us you shouldn't really talk. Just for next time," I told him, winking mockingly.

Then I heard the sound of metal against a holster and turned to see three guns pointed at me. I raised my hands, glancing at the six motionless lumps on the floor. I smirked to myself, one lump was missing…

"I would not do that," I heard Fang's voice say from behind the three guys. They looked up immediately and I followed their gazes. Fang was standing casually in a tree, a smirk that made the night seem like day on his lips. His wings were completely unfolded, making a fourteen foot curtain of darkness around the soldiers. Then without warning he jumped on the center one.

_Bang!_

Crap that was his gun! Without even thinking I charged, arms outstretched as if giving a hug. My arms caught the other two guards dirty throats and they fell to the ground, gagging. I grabbed their guns and patted Fang's arm. "Nice job. I was glad to see the return of the Angel of Darkness. Very badass."

He flashed me another smile but it was false. I looked into his eyes with my raptor vision and saw the bleak shape of a soldier. I was guessing Soldier # 1 was right behind me. I feigned a wide yawn and stretched, then without warning my back leg shot out like an angry horses and caught his…family jewels. Not that that sentence makes any sense, I mean family jewels? Gross. Did the guys pass them down or something?

Then my flock was behind me, backpacks on their backs, a determined look in their eyes. It amazed me how fast we all got together when we had to. We were all ready to run, leaving these bodies behind. "Nice guys," I said. "I think that's a new record of how fast you got ready to go."

"Yeah we're pretty amazing," Iggy said, handing me my backpack.

"What should I do with these guns?" I asked, holding up the black weapons to Fang. I had two, having grabbed them from their bodies on the ground.

"River?" He suggested, grabbed Akila.

"Right," I said. I dumped the guns and turned again to my family. They looked exhausted. Not only because of tonight's lack of sleep but because all our adventures since we left home last may. It was 

early March, almost a year since we left. They were sick of being on the run, they were sick of being not normal. _Too bad_, I thought to myself, feeling guilty. _It's not like I can do anything to help them with that._

_Max, go to your mother's house. _Voice, or Jeb, or whatever it was. I had no idea really, after being with it for nearly a year I had learned to accept it. _She knows who is after you tonight._

_Thanks,_ I said not sure if I meant it.

"Guys," I said out loud as we marched out of the woods. "Is it ok if we visit my mom? The Voice said it might be a good idea."

"When has it not been ok to live in a house for a few days?" Nudge asked. "We can rest up, and Total misses Magnolia."

"Since when?" I asked.

"So I misjudged the pooch," Total said. "Shoot me."

Eventually we stopped at a hotel and checked in to sleep for the last few hours of the night. The next morning we had a long flight ahead of us, and minds full of mysteries. Again.


	2. Chapter 2: Breakfast battle

A small Fax chapter, some more action next chapter or two, I hope you enjoy even if it is shorter than normal.

2

The next morning we ate at the hotel restaurant, a nice place mostly full of old queens. Angel was drinking a big cup of coffee which earned some odd glances from a few old ladies. I heard one of them comment on young kids these days as they shuffled past, looking for a table.

"Gazzy," I said and The Gasman looked up from his cereal. "I think it's safe to say you're nine. And Iggy, we're six months apart so in two months you'll be fifteen." I caught Angel's eyes.

"I want to be seven," She said.

"I'm pretty sure you already are." I said. "I think you turned seven very recently." Fang was giving me an odd look. "What?" I asked him.

He looked down at his food, "I didn't know you were handing out birthdays is all." He commented. I was confused but I saw him trying not to smile and I smiled too.

"How's the blog going?" I asked him.

"Here we go again," Iggy said as Fang said: "Good, I got an interesting letter,"

"What?" Fang and I both asked him, facing him. Then I looked away, blushing. Fang didn't back down. "So what does that mean?"

"You guys always start going off into your own little talking world filled with blogs and, when you think no one is looking, alone time. I've picked up on a few moments, one involving a dock and Max flying away." Iggy looked pretty pleased with himself. I was blushing, looking down at my own plate but Fang got angry.

"That's eavesdropping, Iggy!" he said. "And it's personal."

"Yeah cause it's a huge secret you guys like each other," Gazzy said. And that set off a huge argument. It was so embarrassing that everyone thought Fang and I were together. So what, we've kissed a few times. Did it matter that much?

Nudge started clapping and talking nonstop, Gazzy and Iggy were snickering; Fang was yelling at them to stay out of it, Akila started barking and Angel and Total were whispering to each other. This was so embarrassing!

"Check, please." I said weakly to a startled looking waiter.

"Certainly, um is everything ok over here?" He asked, gesturing. Over here meant at our table. Everybody in the joint was staring at us, I saw some angry old people grumble and stand up to leave.

"Everything's fine," I said. "Nick just, um, stole an egg from Jeff." I said, gesturing to the now semi-wrestling Iggy and Fang. Then I realized just how not fine everything was. Nudge was facing me, still chattering, Fang and Iggy were fighting, Gazzy was laughing and um…passing gas, and Angel was talking to a dog. I wasn't even sure if they allowed dogs in the theater but it was a little too late to find out now. "STOP!" I shouted to everyone. "Come on! Mom's waiting in the car anyway!" Then I marched out of the restaurant, not even checking to see if they were following me or not.

The thing I hated most about this situation was how it started, Fang and I getting too over defensive about our relationship. The sad thing was I think I did like him. We have kissed a few times and I always chickened out about talking about it. Then I saw him kissing that girl at school, Lissa, and I was not happy. Then Bridget came along and that made me furious. He got equally jealous when I kissed Sam, always calling him the possible traitor.

But I didn't want to show my emotions to him or anyone else, it made me vulnerable. Not to mention if we broke up it might result in another flock break up, and I couldn't afford to lose even one of my family.

I checked out of the hotel and wordlessly exited, waiting for my family to notice I was gone. It took another five minutes before they exited. "This is why I don't like taking you kids out," I said jokingly. "Your father and I will talk to you later,"

"Fang already talked to us," Iggy said.

I launched a back kick at him, catching him the ribs. "Oops," I said, grinning. "Come on guys, let's go." I said. And we took off.


	3. Chapter 3: Itex Chronicles

Again, I apologize for this being short but I'm working on my house right now, cleaning out everything. I will update soon though.

3

I loved flying so much it made my heart burst whenever I thought about how lucky we were. My family and I were genetically engineered to fly, in case it slipped your mind. It was so amazing that we were the only six kids that could fly without going in an airplane or helicopter or anything! And our little Scottish terrier dog could fly too, how many of you could say that?

Didn't think that many.

Our hotel was in Colorado so we didn't have that much to fly but it still took a while, not including our lunch stop. But we did get to my mother's house by mid afternoon. My heart swelled at the sight of the little house that my family and I often rested at.

My mother was out the door and hugging me practically before I touched the ground. "Max," she whispered. "I'm so glad to see you,"

"Me too," I said, hugging her back, feeling like a little kid. But you know what? I am a kid, and I only get to see me mom every now and then so I didn't care one bit that Fang was snickering behind his back. Ok, maybe I was a bit embarrassed. I pulled away from my mom and she moved down the line, giving each mutant bird kid a hug. It was par for the course when you visited Mom.

Once we were all inside sipping juice my mom asked: "So, what brings you guys here?" She already knew it wasn't just another visit, she knew it was a visit for information.

"Jeb, or the voice, said that you would have some answers as to why we were ambushed in the forest the other day," I said. "And I came here to find out just that."

My flock was listening intently, probably just as curious as I am about whom was after us the other night. My mom silently got up and left the room, returning seconds later with a book. It was pretty thick; it looked like it was about 300 pages. It was small and it was a dark blue with black binding. It had no cover or words on the front. Curious, I held my hand out to look at it.

"This," My mother said, ignoring my hand, "Is The Itex Chronicles, it tells of Itex, everything they've done. It also has future plans in the back. It talks about soldiers that have already begun to leave their army and join up with Itex. It also tells of an evil plan to get rid of the president. That means the country will fall into chaos; no one will know what to do. The Vice President will go soon after. Then Itex plans to take over America. I'm guessing it was those soldiers helping with this operation that went after you."

"But why?" I asked. "Why would they go after us? I mean I know they've wanted to capture us but I never really got why."

"They used to not want us to blab to anyone about our wings, right?" Angel asked, absentmindedly stroking Total.

"Right," Fang said. "But we kinda blew that plan out of the water when Max delivered her speech, and again during that school opening."

"They want to get rid of your wings," My mom said, immediately cutting off all side talk.


	4. Chapter 4: Family Fight

4

"W-what?" I asked. This was a major shocker. Seriously, in my little pathetic life I did not see this coming. I mean, it makes no sense. They create us and now they want to cure us? They want us to have normal lives?

"I thought they were trying to do the By-Half plan, why are they planning to take over the world?" Fang asked, casting a glance at my mom. He looked suspiciously at her like she was the bad guy. "It doesn't add up. And weren't you low in the Itex branch? Why would they trust you with their secrets?"

Mom shifted in her seat. She looked uncomfortable, like she was being questioned. She sort of was though. "I guess I do have to explain that much to you guys," She said. "Fang, you're right. I was not that high in their eyes so they would never trust me with all this information. I stole it the same night Jeb stole you guys. Everyone was so focused on getting him that they didn't notice one little book missing. Even if that book did have all of their secrets."

"That's another thing," I said. "Why would they keep their secrets inside one book, one place? They're really picky about that stuff. They're probably more paranoid than us." I motioned for us to mean the flock. As I did I caught a quick glance at my flock. They were all sitting motionless, probably mulling things over. I couldn't blame them. Here it was; their chance to be normal. I know I would never talk an offer like that but as I stared into their faces I knew it wouldn't be such an easy choice for them.

"I'm not entirely sure why they put everything inside a book but that isn't the point." Mom said, giving me a stern look for interrupting. "They had the By-Half plan and the Disaster USA plan inside the book. It claims that DUSA plan was just a backup, and thanks to you guys in Germany they need a backup plan." She gave a small smile to me as she told me. "And they want you guys out of the picture. I learned that part from an Email forwarded from Jeb."

"You're still in touch with him?" I asked, anger bubbling in my stomach. Then I reminded myself to calm down, it wasn't like Jeb purposely hurt me so much. It wasn't like he pretended to be betrayed just to hurt me. That thought just got me angry again. "And how did he get the Email?"

"I'm not sure," Mom said. "He just sent it and said 'trust me'."

Interesting, I thought. "So guys, let's hear what you have to say about this 'cure'"

"It would be cool," Nudge said. "We would be normal and we would be able to go to the normal school they opened up for us. But it would also suck because we would have to give up flying. But then we wouldn't be hunted anymore. But then we wouldn't be able to fly. And we would have to answer to a parent every night."

"Imagine that," My mom said.

Nudge started to talk again. "Nudge, sweetie," I interrupted. "We get that you have mixed feelings. Me too."

"It would be smart," I thought it would've been Iggy who said that but was amazed Fang said that. "Think about it," He said, trying to calm me down. He must've seen my worried look. "Just think about it. We all liked having a normal life at Anne's. We would be able to do that all the time, without the worry of being killed."

"I can't believe this," I said. "I can't believe you, of everyone in the flock, would say that." I felt terrible at his words. How could he just decide like that? He pretty much just said: "Let's pretend the first fifteen years of our lives didn't happen, ok?"

"Max, we're just kids!" Fang said. His voice was rising. This was amazing! Fang never lost his cool. He was always emotionless and calm. Not today though. "We need a place to stay forever; we need to go to school. We're missing out on the experience," He said, adding the last bit, thinking it would calm me down. It did just the opposite.

"Yeah?" I asked, getting in his face. "Well go ahead. I'm never getting a cure! Why would we even want something like that? That is so stupid of you to say. What would the past year of been for? Nothing? We would've had to go through all of Jeb's little tests for no reason! We would've had to see stuff for no reason." He met my gaze and we both understood what stuff was. Him and Lissa, me and Sam. Us…

"Max," This time it was Angel. I whirled around to face her, snarling. "I don't think we should get the cure,"

"Aw, you're only saying that because you're a super hero." Gazzy said. "You have, like, fifty special powers. Fang's right. We need to get rid of the wings. As much as I love flying, being on the run and being hungry doesn't work for me. I think I'm willing to give up flying for that."

"Would they be able to fix my sight?" Iggy asked, caution in his voice. I knew if they were able to he would give up flying for his eyes.

"It doesn't say anything specific in the Email, just that they have the tools to 'cure you,'" She said. I felt a sense of dread. I can't believe this! My family was being torn apart because of Itex, again.

"Guys," I said. "We don't need to be fighting about this now,"

Then there was a knock on the door. Everyone tensed. Iggy turned to us. "The same footsteps as the other night," He said. We wordlessly slipped out back while Mom went to answer the door.


	5. Chapter 5: Revenge!

A/N I know it already sounds like halfway through a normal book but this will be a pretty long Fanfic, I just wanted things to start with the Cure and work up from there.

5

We tramped through the woods, trying to get away. I both hated and loved these woods. I hated them because quite some time ago I was running away from some goons with a gun through these woods. That was when I got shot. I loved these woods because I followed the path to my biological family's house. So I had mixed feelings as we sloshed through the mud.

No one was talking, I was glad. I was worried that there was going to be another fight concerning the cure. I couldn't let anyone get the cure. I don't care if I'm being selfish. We've broken up before and I don't want it to happen again. And if we did half or more of us wouldn't be able to see us anymore. I wasn't sure what everyone wanted. I knew Gazzy and Fang and Iggy and Nudge wanted the cure. Well Nudge wasn't sure. Angel said she thought it would be a bad idea and I didn't want it at all. I mean sure I liked not getting hunted but I didn't want to get rid of my wings. We're the only kids able to fly and my family wants to get rid of it just to live a wingless life.

"So, where to next guys?" I asked. I just wanted to try to remain upbeat.

"I don't know," Fang said. "We need to find out how to get that cure."

"NO!" I screamed at him. "I don't know what's happened to you to make you insane but you're not getting a cure. None of us are and that's…" I was going to say final but I was interrupted. We heard people walking through the woods. I motioned everyone down silently. "Iggy," I barely breathed, "Soldiers?"

"No," He replied. "Kids,"

Then I heard the voice of one. "And then a chic, like, broke my ribs. Then she ran into the woods. We shot her. We don't know what happened after that." My blood boiled. Here was one of the kids telling someone else the story of the stupid girl who saved Ella. He was bragging like it was a good thing to do. I glanced at Fang, all of our aggression put aside for the moment.

"My turn to do dark angel," I told him. I leapt up and started toward the voices.

"But her wings are white." I heard Iggy say.

I leapt into a tree and scrambled to a branch. I had no idea how Fang did this the other night so silently. "Holy sh…" The first kid that I briefly recognized started to say.

Then I snapped out my wings. The kid wigged out and tried to run. His friend was already out of there. I jumped ahead of the familiar kid and stopped him in his tracks. I didn't say anything; I didn't want to ruin the effect. He backpedaled and started running the other way. Then, apparently out of nowhere Fang lashed out and knocked the kid out. I rolled my eyes; I hated when Fang turned invisible, or blended in with his surroundings. Whatever he did I hated it.

"Was it necessary to knock him out? I was just aiming for a knock out."

"This is the creep who shot you. He deserved much more than this," He motioned on the floor, saying "This" Meant the kid knocked out on the forest floor.

"See, you really want these good times to end?" I asked him.

"Max, the flock needs this," He said.

"Where is the flock?" I asked, looking around. "They can't turn invisible too, can they?"

"They're back at your mother's house. We all went to see and the soldiers are indeed gone." He started walking back toward the house. "You coming or what?" He called over his shoulder. I grumbled, mimicking his voice. "Be mature," He said.

I rolled my eyes and followed him.


End file.
